Hi chaps,
I'm thinking about a WWI game but i need some reccomended rulesets.
Preferably i'm thinking about Tactical level gaming so rules that deal with company to Battallion levels would be good.
Does anyone have some rules they could reccomend?
Contemptible Little Armies 3rd Edn. by Chris Peers and published by Brigade Games is a good little set. Originally produced as an individual 28mm single figure game I find it works with a base of 10mm figures substituted for each 28mm figure. The game was designed with a minimum of 8 figures per unit, but a single gun model is still a battery so I think it actually looks better in 10mm. I use 30mmx30mm bases for 6 infantry, 3 cavalry and 1 gun and its crew. These rules also allow for off-table howitzers (which one is encouraged to put on the table base edge), attack aircraft, gas etc. I got my copy from Monarch Books at a show. It is an attacker then defender style game with alternating activities through a game turn rather than a whole turn attacker then whole turn defender.
Depends on which phase of the war you want to recreate. For the first six months or so (the race to the Channel) you could probably get away with using any of the good late 19th Century rulesets. Later on, when planes and tanks and other inovations come in, you are probably looking at something a little more sophisticated.
I tried a few sets of rules for the Russo-Japanese War at Company / Battalion level including Contemptible Little Armies
See http://twomarshals.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.html
Cheers chaps.
I've got 1st Ed. Contemptible Little Armies and they're an awful, unplayable mess. Has 3rd ed. improved them?
I'm looking for the mid-war trench warfare phase really, leading eventually into the evolution of technology and tactics of the later war.
Would a mod of Blitzkrieg commander work do you think? I've not convinced myself that it would...
You taken a look at If The Lord Spares Us by Two Fat Lardies?????
Ok mostly written for the Dardanelles, but it is WW1 and does play well, and lots of support on the Lardies Yahoo thingy.
We have been using "Bloody Picnic" by Dillon Browne. Ive played a few WW1 sets and these have the advantage of being whole of base casualties, reasonably simple, very bloody, and useful for any WW1 theatre, RCW etc. You can add bits to them as well without degrading their integrity.
Pete was looking into a WW1 BKC set and dropped the idea relatively early on in their development. The subject comes up every now and again on that forum and one or two people were playing with ideas but I dont think anything firm has arisen
Very much not a fan of the TFL stable of rules i'm afraid.
Nosher, do you know why Pete dropped the 'Commander WWI' idea?
Greetings
Interesting question.
http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/Content/Forum/Topic.aspx?CategoryID=12&ForumID=42&TopicID=13469&ForumPage=1. There was also a thread on the BKC forum at http://www.blitzkrieg-commander.com/Content/Forum/Topic.aspx?CategoryID=2&ForumID=22&TopicID=12895&ForumPage=1
Aside from TFL the ones I can think of are:
(a) Great War Spearhead
- supplement to WW2 SH rules
- about to have a stand alone v2
- stands are a company so may well not suit your level of play
(b) Command Decision - ToB
- seems to be targeting WWI with its recent release on the border fighting in 1914 - I used the original Over the Top a bit
- platoon per stand so again may be too high a level
(c) Square Bashing - Peter Pig
- being redone at present
- uses squares
- again scale is likely to be out as I believe the force on table is meant to be a division?
There's a load of free items which I know nothing about. There's apparently a FoW 1918 group that mods FoW.
Regards
Edward
A WW1 Version of FoW :o
That'll be a complete clusterf**k then >:( I can't magine anything more abhorrent other than FoW itself :d
I think Pete dropped his potential set because of worries about the command system and also a lack of personal interest which is probably more to the point. Nik was active in the discussions - he maybe able to shed more light?
I dont think it ever got beyond discussions
Agree on the FoW issue although i understand my chaps and i will be diving back in fairly shortly.
The only game ever to make me lose my rag, so it'll have to be good in v3!
As to 'Commander' not hitting WWI i think thats a shame really. There's lots of potential as 'company' or tactical level i think. And the fluid, ad hoc nature of the 'commander' C&C system might well do it justice, representing local commanders taking control of the desperate tactical system in reaction to the inevitable failure of The Plan!
Hehe..
Never mind, the search continues...and given my current painting and game queues i'm in no hurry!
There's the free set on the Rules thread which you might like to try, aimed at quite large scale games with a stand repressenting a platoon.
There's a core set of rules with three different play sheets for early, mid and late war periods.
And if you don't like anything or want it changed I could oblige if I agree with the issue. ;)